Opposition parties launch motion of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan

30-03-2022

Anna Magdalena Comploi 

Pakistan and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

Leaders of Pakistan’s opposition parties have filed a motion of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan in Parliament, accusing him of mismanaging Pakistan’s economy (Al Jazeera, 2022). The vote on the motion will be held within a week, with the House holding debates stating on Thursday. The motion was proposed by Shehbaz Sharif, the opposition leader in the National Assembly (Al Jazeera, 2022). According to Al Jazeera, opposition leaders have tried to persuade Khan’s coalition partners to take a stance against the Prime Minister (Al Jazeera, 2022). The opposition requires 172 votes out of the 324 seats to win the motion against Khan. Khan came into power in the elections in 2019 (Al Jazeera, 2022). He has been criticized for ceding power to extreme Islamic clerics and bowing to their demands, leading to discrimination of minorities (Gannon, 2020). Despite vowing to treat minorities as equal citizens in Pakistan, the Prime Minister has failed to do so on multiple occasions (Gannon, 2020).

Sources and further reading: 

Al Jazeera. (2022, March 29). No-confidence motion in Pakistan parliament in bid to remove Khan. 

Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/29/pakistan-

opposition-no-confidence-motion-imran-khan

Gannon, K. (2020, July 17). Minorities Under Attack as Prime Minister Imran Khan Pushes 

‘Tolerant’ Pakistan. The Diplomat. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from https://thediplomat.com/2020/07/minorities-under-attack-as-prime-minister-imran-khan-pushes-tolerant-pakistan/